Bowing to public sentiment, the board of the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) voted unanimously May 9 to implement an alignment for the Mid-Coast Transit Project’s proposed extension from Old Town to Westfield UTC that is further away from a La Jolla condominium complex in its path.

“As a homeowner at Cape La Jolla Gardens,” condo spokesman Will Cooper said, “I am very pleased with the decision of the SANDAG board to revert to the northern I-5 trolley crossing alignment, which will preserve the use and enjoyment of the condominium complex for all the residents. I am especially grateful for the support of San Diego councilmember Sherri Lightner, who worked tirelessly on behalf of the local residents to ensure open and transparent government in this matter.”

Echoing La Jolla condo residents’ concerns, Lightner said they “believed the trolley’s route had been resolved” only to find, following a SANDAG board vote last November, that the proposed trolley route had been shifted south and closer to them.

“That action was taken without any meaningful community input or outreach and shocked the community,” Lightner said, adding that the board’s motion to revert to its earlier proposed trolley route alignment “will move the project forward without significant delay.”

SANDAG board member and county Supervisor Ron Roberts, noting the Mid-Coast trolley extension proposal has “been around an awful long time,” added that the project is extremely complex, with “a number of issues, the most significant being the crossing of Interstate 5.

“We moved the (trolley alignment) location and we thought there would be no significant impacts on anybody, but we wanted to find a solution that was acceptable to everyone,” said Roberts, who made the motion to defer to the trolley's previous alignment crossing I-5.

The Mid-Coast Corridor Transit Project will extend trolley service from Santa Fe Depot in downtown San Diego to University City, serving Old Town, UCSD and Westfield UTC. Construction is expected to begin in 2015, with service starting in 2018.